The beginning : why we set up a roastery purely for Australian grown coffee

• The Zentveld family (John snr. and June) were pioneers in the commercial production of premium Coffea arabica on their plantation in the Byron Bay Hinterland.
  They worked closely with the local Department of Agriculture, trialed the new varieties, developed a professional nursery service and ensured the economic viability for local growers through the development of a harvestor and and sourcing professional processing equipment. [visit CAPE AUSTRALIA]
  
  
• In ‘blind’ taste tests conducted at the QLD Food Institute in 1992, coffee tasting professionals rated the local Northern NSW coffee as one of the best in the world. This gave Rebecca Zentveld the confidence to set up an independent roastery in 1993, when there were only 5 Northern NSW growers, and it was only the 2nd year of commercial harvest.
  
  Zentveld's unique roastery experience:
  
  
• Since the beginning, Zentveld’s have offered exclusively a range of roasts and blends (of different roast-styles and estates) without blending in any foreign grown beans.
  
  
• We reward over 20 local growers by paying a world premium price for their best quality arabica coffee. With their unique microclimates and the differences in growing and processing techniques employed by individual estates, we can produce a distinct range of coffees, adding complexity and interest to our blends - that sets us apart from single estate coffees.
  
  
• We form strong relationships with our growers.
  Unlike roasters of foreign grown beans, we have a real understanding of the history of each bag of coffee; often receiving the harvested cherries or 'parchment' coffee direct from the grower and doing the processing and grading work ourselves. This enures further quality control and knowledge of the green bean prior to roasting.